Beyond the Gates
by Iver
Summary: Ed and Al found a way to open the gate again to return home, but things go wrong when Kyuubi interfeers, and Ed and Al get caught up in a battle to bring balance to Good and Evil. Is this more than they bargained for?
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own neither Naruto nor Fullmetal Alchemist, but this story is of my own imagination!

This is my first fic and I don't know how often I will be able to update so please bear with me here people, I've got 2 jobs and school so this might be updated once every 2 weeks or so but I'd like to update it as much as possible.

Any reviews will be very appreciated, and just to cover what a review is(I've see some of the things people submit as a review and personally, I think it's really sad). A review consists of the following material:

1. All reviews have YOUR opinion of the topic at hand, namely in this case, my fic.

2. All reviews have a somewhat in depth summary, criticizing/supporting the topic. (no one liners, like it sucked. These will be ignored. Please let me know what sucked, or what rocked your socks off.)

3. Reviews are a way for the author to find flaws and fix them, so point out anything that you see within my fic and report it to me.

As a side note, I would love to reply to all reviewers' questions but as I have time constraints I may not be able to, so please do not be offended if you get no reply.

Hey!!! Remember how I said I was going to condense everything, well here it is! There weren't any changes from the origional so you probably wont need to reread this chapter. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1

The Meeting

The day had gone and the night had covered the city in its blanket of darkness, lulling the usually busy city to sleep. Everything was silent, even the usually active alley cats seemed to hide away. One may describe the feeling in the city as foreboding, or tense. The cold wind that night did nothing to ease the feeling of unrest.

Everything was quiet; everything was dark, save for a small factory in the deepest corner of the city. In this building alone, there was a dim light cast from the windows…

Two figures moved quickly through the dim light given by a single candle. The room was quite large and the light didn't quite reach to the walls. The candle sat on a desk that was scattered with worn scrolls and ancient books. On the floor where the figures bent, was a large pentagram that could easily fit four or five full grown people. The figures were writing steadily, finishing the runes and other strange symbols that marked the pentagram.

One of the figures finished writing and placed the chalk on the desk, stretching his arms and legs. He wasn't very tall, but his well toned muscles told that if he got into a fight he could easily hold his own against even the largest of men. He had blonde hair that fell past his shoulders and tied into a braid, and his eyes matched the color of his hair, being a golden color that seemed to immediately study and evaluate everything around him. He was dressed almost completely in black save for the red trench coat with a snake wrapped around a cross, carefully embroidered on the back that covered his figure. He looked to his companion who wore a similar outfit (complete with blond hair) and spoke, "Geez, Alphonse. Aren't you done with that yet?"

Alphonse paused in his work and turned to the speaker with his auburn eyes shining, "Better safe than sorry Ed. We wouldn't want to mess this up and end up like we did before."

Ed visibly shivered as he remembered his encounter with human transmutation. The pair had tried to resurrect their dead mother, but instead ended up with an oozing pile of human flesh that in no way resembled a human. To make matters worse, during the process of Equivalent Exchange, Ed lost his left leg and Al had his whole body taken. With quick thinking Ed sealed Al's soul in a suit of armor at the cost of his right arm.

But that was in the past, and they had been through so much together since both Ed and Al came through the gate together. At first everything started out slow. Life would never be normal for Ed and Al and they knew it well. Getting used to not using alchemy was probably the hardest part of the deal for Ed and Al. Back home, alchemy was commonplace and almost everyone knew how to use it to a certain degree. Here on the other hand, instead of alchemy being the dominant form of 'easy living' technology was. People were flying, which was only a dream back on the other side of the gate. To top things off, Ed had metal prosthetics to replace his arm and leg that was missing, and the only mechanics skilled enough to emulate such complex machinery were in the other world as well.

Ed snapped out of his trance, just in time to see Al finish his half of the circle. Al took a deep breath and stood to his feet. He walked over to his brother and joined him in leaning against the cluttered desk. They both stood there in silence for a while before Al spoke up. "Do you really think this is going to work brother?"

Ed looked at Al, his eyes hinted at the deep sadness in his heart. "It has to Al, it has to." Ed turned his head from his brother, "there is too much at stake to fail now. They're waiting for us Al. We have to do this." Ed sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than his brother.

Al nodded. He understood his brother better than anyone and he knew that he missed everyone back in their world. Of course Al was just as anxious to get back. They had so many stories to tell of this new world they had encountered on the other side of the gate.

Al pushed himself off the side of the desk and walked to the opposite side of the Transmutation Circle, and looked back to his brother. "Let's give it a whirl," Al's eyes lit up.

Ed closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself before walking over to face his brother on the opposite side of the circle. Ed smirked, "Let's get this show on the road!"

Al looked to his brother with relief. That was the way Ed always was, confident and bursting with energy. Al nodded at his brother, "We've worked long and hard for this. Now we reap the fruits of our sweat and blood!"

The two siblings clapped their hands together (AN: out of habit, this doesn't actually work in this world) forming a circle with their arms. Ed grinned widely and said, "In case this doesn't work out. I just want you to know that you're the best thing that ever happened in my life."

Al looked at his brother with surprise. He had never heard his brother so bluntly show his affection. Al curved his mouth into a grin to match his brother's, "The same to you, but I don't think we'll have any problem with failure in this one."

Ed's smile widened, "After all those months of hearing you whine about wanting to go home, it damn well better work!"

In perfect synchronization, the siblings slammed their hands onto the circle. At first nothing happened. Confused they looked at each other, "Did we do something wrong?" Al asked Ed.

Ed stood there in shock. "No. Everything was perfect. Even our inability to use advanced alchemy should have been compensated for." Silence filled the room for a few moments longer before the circle beneath them suddenly emitted a brilliant light. Both siblings stepped back in shock covering their eyes from the blinding light. The light began to die down as the room suddenly warped and in a few moments they found themselves in a completely white room with a large double doorway in the middle.

"Al…" Ed began, not believing what he saw.

Al turned to his brother, "Yeah?"

Ed's mouth still open wide, he managed, "I think it worked…"

There was a silent pause as the two gaped at the huge doors before they burst into cheers. "WE DID IT!" They shouted in unison.

A low rumbling chuckle came from nowhere and a figure began materializing in front of them. It took the shape of a flaming red fox with nine tails which stared at them.

Unease took hold of the brothers as they stared down at the beast. Ed tilted his head to Al, "Hey Al. That's a fox right?"

Al returned in the same manner, "I think so. But what is it doing here?"

The fox perked its ears toward the brothers and to their surprise and amazement; spoke. "**It's you two again**." The fox stood and trotted toward them, seating itself a few feet away from the two.

Ed and Al stood staring at the fox a moment before the both pointed at the beast and screamed, "DEMON!!!"

The fox sweat dropped, not EXACTLY the reaction that he had intended. It cleared its throat in an attempt to get the panicking boys attention. After this didn't seem to calm them the fox yelled, "**WOULD** **YOU IDIOTS PIPE DOWN!**"

Immediately Ed and Al stopped. The fox sighed, "**Now before you two decide that you want to scream your heads off again, listen carefully to what I have to say.**"

Ed and Al, nodded slowly, still not sure of what to think of the fox.

The fox paused, mulling over his thoughts, picking what to say to the two. "**I have a favor to ask of you two.**"

The two siblings blinked and stared at each other. They turned to the fox and nodded. But Ed spoke up, "First, we need some answers."

Rolling his eyes, the fox reluctantly agreed to the demands, "**Fine, but I will only answer what is necessary.**"

Ed smiled, "Alright. First off, what are you, how did you get here, and what purpose do you have?"

The nine tails pondered a moment. _**He sure gets to the point, **_he thought to himself. Nodding the fox replied, "**My name is not something you would comprehend so you may call me Kyuubi, as for what I am, I am one of the three legendary nine tailed demons from a plane quite different from your own.**" Kyuubi took in their reactions. The pair stood there in shock. "**As to how I got here, I was sealed by a powerful bastard, after attacking his village, into the abdomen of a brat. I am able to freely roam to this plane with my spirit only. This is the only freedom that I have. My purpose is to enlist you two to help me gain some freedom from that insufferable brat and to help save my plane of existence from a certain snake bastard that thinks he can gain immortality.**" Kyuubi sat watching the two carefully.

It was Al who spoke first, "If you're so powerful, then why don't you just take out this… person?"

Kyuubi sighed. He had hoped to avoid long conversations, he wasn't one to talk, he much preferred tearing into the flesh of the mortals and bending their will to do his bidding. Everything was easier that way, but he couldn't risk it with these two, not with him in his current state anyway. "**As I stand I cannot move to affect the world outside of my prison. It was only just recently that my 'vessel' became aware of my presence and I am not yet able to speak with him directly. I also see that the two of you hold very… peculiar, abilities. It takes much power to be able to ascend to this plane of existence and still have your bodies intact." **

The white room was empty aside from a giant gate with the Tree of Life etched onto the doors, two young blonds, and the most peculiar of the bunch, a talking fox with nine tails. The two blonds and the fox were deep in conversation, doubt and suspicion plastered the faces of the young blonds. The eldest of the two boys (coincidentally only a half inch taller) crossed his arms in light of the new information he had heard.

So many questions crossed his mind; what does this fox mean by sealing? What is his vessel? How does he know about their power? Had he seen them cross the gate before? Ed had so many questions and yet so few answers. His thoughts began to frustrate him as the three stood in silence for a moment. Finally, Ed frowned, a vein throbbing on his head. Anger apparently replaced his confusion as he spoke, "This is all fine and dandy, But…" His eyes snapped open revealing his golden eyes, "what in the hell does this have to do with us?"

Kyuubi was slightly taken aback by his sudden outburst. Never in his hundreds of years had he seen a human who would speak with such a tone towards him. Kyuubi sighed, "**Well, if you ever want to get home, you have to come through my world**."

Confused the two looked at the fox, "**You see…**" Kyuubi began anew. "**When you activated the circle I sensed your power and allowed you to enter this realm**. **Through here, you can only come to this dimension, not your own. I'm the only one who can help you get back**." Kyuubi grinned at his well thought out plan. By doing this, he ensured that the pair would HAVE to help him.

Ed stood in shock. It wasn't everyday that he was played for the fool, and he knew that he hated being treated as a puppet, having his strings pulled every which way. Soon his shock was replaced by absolute fury, "YOU DAMNED FOX!!!! YOU THINK YOU CAN TOY WITH ME!?" Ed drew his auto mail arm back and swung hard at Kyuubi's head. Ed's fist swung right through Kyuubi like he was made out of air, causing Ed to overbalance and fall face first into the floor. Ed immediately leapt to his feet, a little embarrassed he forgot what Kyuubi had said

Kyuubi sweat dropped. "**Fool. I told you that I can only exist here in spirit. It would be natural to assume that your physical bodies cannot affect the spiritual**."

Ed grumbled as Al looked on in shock at his brother. He figured that he would have noticed that. "Fine," Al spoke up, regaining his composure. "We'll cooperate. But you need to answer some more questions."

Kyuubi nodded, "**I will answer what is needed and nothing more**."

Al sighed, "Fine, but what you tell us will determine if we will help you or not." Al looked at Kyuubi, searching for something. Seeming satisfied with what he saw he proceeded, "First, who is this 'snake bastard' you're talking about, and what does he have to do with us?"

Kyuubi nodded, "**His name is Orochimaru. He's a ninja, one of the most powerful that his village has seen. About 13 years ago, he and my brother, one of the three legendary nine tailed demons tricked me into attacking the village Konohagakure. They told me that the humans planned to attack the demons that resided near them and as the Demon King; I took initiative and attacked the ninja to prevent them from killing any of my own. Little did I know, my brother and that bastard were in league to overthrow me, and when the leader of the village, the Hokage, came it was over for me. He sealed me into a child, the 'insufferable brat' I mentioned earlier, using a technique that ended his life.**" Kyuubi paused for a second, thinking on what to say next. A grin suddenly crossed his face, "**It seems my vessel is beginning to wake. I will not be able to remain here much longer.**"

Ed and Al looked at each other. Ed glared at Kyuubi, "Fine, who do we need to look for, for more information?"

Kyuubi blinked, "**Does this mean you accept?**"

Ed nodded, "You don't seem to be too bad, so I think I'll go along."

A grin stretched across Kyuubi's face, "**In that case, seek out my vessel. He will be in a place called the Wave Country, close to a bridge that is under construction. If you have trouble finding the bridge just follow the annoying voices until you find a group of four people. There will be 3 brats, one female with pink hair, her name is Haruno Sakura, I think… and two males, one with black hair, and one with blonde, the black haired one is named Uchiha Sasuke, but the blond one is the one you're looking for, his name is Uzumaki Naruto.**"

Ed smirked, "For you being a demon, you sure seem to like these humans an awful lot."

Kyuubi scowled, obviously not liking the fact that it seemed so apparent,"**Quiet you, I'm not done yet.**" Kyuubi cleared his throat. "**Watch out for the fourth one of the group. He's known as Kakashi, the Copy Ninja. He is extremely skilled in the arts of the ninja.**" Kyuubi's form began to fade. "**He may find you suspicious, do not tell them of me. Good luck**."

Kyuubi's form completely faded from existence. Standing alone, Ed and Al mulled over everything they had just heard. Finally after several moments of thinking, Ed turned to his brother, "Well, what do you say we get going?"

Al nodded at his brother smiling. Silently they walked toward the gate and pushed the large doors open. The darkness beyond the door was unsettling, almost as if death itself awaited them. Calmly, the two brothers walked into the darkness, slowly allowing it to swallow them whole.


	2. Chapter 2: Chance Meeting

Yosh!!! Update! It's a bit short but the new stuff is after the flashback. I plan to have the next chapter out soon. Don't know how soon though.

I'd like to thank everyone first off for reading and sending me reviews, but, and I know this is asking a lot, PLEASE REVIEW MORE!!! The reviews I've gotten are few and far between I realize that there are really only two chapters and not much has happened but please review. bows

Chapter 2

Chance Meeting

The light dimmed to a now bearable medium as solid ground began to materialize under Ed and Al's feet. Opening their eyes they looked around at their surroundings, a small clearing within a forest. The two carefully studied this sudden change in scenery when in suddenly hit them… They made it. They actually made it through the gate! Immediately the blonds were on their feet with a quick strong embrace and much shouting, "We did! We actually made it!" Suddenly Ed stopped and pushed his brother away to arms length. "HOLY SHIT AL! WHEN'D YOU GET SO TALL?"

Confused Al looked at his brother, and sure enough he was nearly a quarter of a head taller than him, then his gaze fell on his brother's face. Al's face twisted with shock and horror. "Ed… I didn't get taller. When we went through the gate we must have had a short process of age reverse…"

Ed looked at Al, and sure enough he looked only about 15, which would make himself only 16. Suddenly Ed's entire person dropped into despair, "So what you're saying is I'm short again…"

Al nodded, "That's what it looks like brother."

The light was so bright… too bright as a matter of fact. Naruto grumbled to himself and sat upright, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Yawning widely it took a few moments for his eyes to register his surroundings. The room wasn't in very good condition, boards hung loosely from the walls in random places. Suddenly everything came back to him in a flash. He jumped from his bed in a start, ready to defend himself at a moment's notice. He quickly scanned the room to find three empty bed rolls. _Oh…_ he thought to himself in realization. _Seems everyone is already awake._ Groggily the blonde pulled his nightcap off and dressed into his favorite orange clothing and headed out the room. Once in the hall he could hear Sakura commenting on how great Sasuke looked and how impressed she was with how much he was improving thanks to Kakashi's training. _Oh god… why does she have to do that so early in the morning. _Naruto sulked to himself. At one time he would have loved to have been on the receiving end of her glorious praise, but lately he'd lost interest. He began to realize that he probably didn't want a bitchy, violent, quick tempered girl like her. (Sakura Storm Troopers, please don't kill me yet. I just really don't like the way that she treated Naruto. Who knows, she might change) Naruto mentally shrugged to himself and rounded the corner in the hall to the dining room.

Sasuke was sitting at the table looking positively annoyed at the constantly chattering Sakura sitting right next to him. He was sitting, arms crossed, head tilted down, with his eyes closed to try to hide the twitch.

Naruto almost felt bad for his teammate… ALMOST. He shrugged to and thought to himself, _He'll owe me for this one later._ Putting on a face that said, it's too early to be alive yet, he turned to Sakura. "Oi, Sakura… Would ya keep the flirting to a minimum in the morning?"

Sakura turned to her other teammate with a look that said, _**YOU BASTARD!!! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT TO ME!!!!!**_ Quicker that Naruto could blink; Sakura leapt from her seat and pounded her fist into Naruto's face, sending him flying out the front door. (Can't have them destroying Tsunami's house, now can we?) "Naruto, you idiot!"

As Naruto was peeling himself off the ground, Sasuke came to lean on the door frame and looked at Naruto. "Don't get Sakura so riled up so early in the morning, dobe." Sasuke commented with a smirk.

Naruto grinned, "Then maybe it's about time you took care of your own problems you dark and brooding bastard." Naruto stood and dusted himself off.

Sasuke smiled in spite of himself. He liked Naruto. If there was one person in the world that he could trust it would be him, he probably even considered him a brother… maybe. He couldn't help but smile to himself when Sakura dashed out the door and began to chase Naruto around the yard for his earlier comment. Watching the two, he almost missed Tsunami walking up the path to the house, with two blonds in tow.

Now, Naruto wasn't keen on getting hit by Sakura a second time… at least not twice in the same hour. Dodging and ducking, he managed to avoid her wild punches and kicks. Naruto jumped back to put some distance between them but came to a sudden stop when he bumped into someone behind him.

Both him and one of the blonds with Tsunami tumbled to the ground in an orange and red blur. The unknown blond jumped to his feet and yelled down to Naruto, "What's the big idea attacking me like that?"

"NARUTO!"

Hearing the yell the blond turned to the pink haired demon that quickly closed the distance between them. Sakura was charging the pair, fist drawn back, ready to strike. The blond quickly dropped low and grabbed her wrist with his right hand, using her momentum to throw her to the ground with a thud.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING ATTACKING ME OUT OF NOWHERE!?" The blond screamed in surprise.

Shocked, Naruto made his way to his feet. Never in his life had he seen someone so easily throw Sakura to the ground like that, well, nobody that wasn't a ninja anyway. This guy didn't even have a headband, let alone the fact that he didn't even look like a ninja. Sasuke appeared behind the new blond, throwing him a threatening glare, "Just who the hell are you?"

"Who am I? No. Who the hell are you? You stuck up, emo, brat?" The blond countered, sounding much older than he actually looked.

"Brat?" Sasuke asked. This boy couldn't be much older than him… not judging by his height anyway.

"That's what I said, don't make me repeat myself. Now, I want names." The blond demanded.

"Umm, Ed. Take it easy… I'm sure that there is a reasonable explanation," The other unknown blond said soothingly.

The newly dubbed Ed looked to his counterpart and look alike, "Al… you're just too soft." At this Al shook his head. His brother was such a hothead. "Fine..." Ed looked to the trio; Sakura had gotten off the ground and now stood next to Naruto and Sasuke, looking a bit shaken up. "The name's Elric Edward," he said and then pointed at Al, "and this is my little brother Alphonse, or just Ed and Al." Ed looked to Sasuke, "Your turn."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," He then pointed to Sakura, "Haruno Sakura, and the ..." He was cut off by the blond.

"Name's Uzumaki Naruto!" He had a look that radiated pride, and suddenly switched to one of awe. "How did you do that to Sakura earlier? Are you ninja? Where did you train? Can you show me how to do that?" Naruto spouted off so many questions, Ed felt his mind swirling in confusion.

"Whoa! Whoa! Slow t down…" Ed tried to calm Naruto. Ed was beginning to feel excited himself, it had been less than a day since their arrival in this new world and they had already found the people they were looking for.

"Who are these people?" A voice spoke.

Everyone turned to see a silver haired ninja with a black face mask. He wore black pants and a black shirt with a green vest over top. A headband with the leaf symbol covered his left eye. He was walking on crutches. He cleared his throat. "I repeat. Who are these two?"

Almost forgotten, Tsunami spoke up. "These two boys helped me out earlier today on my way home."

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow, "I'd like to hear the whole story inside please." Kakashi turned and walked into the house.

The rest of the party followed after the silver haired jonin into the house.

The seven shuffled into the small cramped dining room and sat in the old wooden chairs at the table. Kakashi sat at the head and glared at the pair sitting just opposite him. "Ok, let's start with names," Kakashi said with a slight menace in his voice.

"Like I said before, the names Ed, and this here is my little brother, Al." Ed said, completely ignoring the glare that Kakashi was giving him. "Now, what's yours?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here shrimp." Kakashi said snappily

Ed's eye began to twitch as Al noticed the mad fury growing inside his brother. Al put his hand on Ed's shoulder to calm him. "Please. We'd like to at least know who we're talking to here."

Kakashi sighed; negotiations were going to be difficult with these two. "Hatake Kakashi. Next questions; where are you from? Why are you here?"

After several deep breaths and a count to ten Ed answered with a shrug, "We're from a village a long ways from here; it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere. As a matter of fact, we didn't even know about ninja villages until we left." At this Kakashi raised an eyebrow (the visible one) and the rest of the group gasped in astonishment. "As for why we are here; we're just wandering learning about the world and what we can."

Naruto shook his head to clear it. Had he heard him right? Did this guy actually say he had never heard of ninja villages before? The only thing that ran through his mind was, IMPOSSIBLE! Naruto jumped from his seat and thrust his finger out at Ed, "Your lying aren't you!"

Ed raised an eyebrow. "This is the honest to God truth."

Finally, Sasuke had enough. "Enough dancing around the subject. Exactly how did you run into Tsunami?" Sasuke finally asked the one question on everyone's mind. (Well… except Naruto's, he was still wondering about the whole ninja village thing.)

Tsunami smiled gently, "Ah, yes, I nearly forgot." Tsunami waved a hand at the two boys, "These two helped me on my way home; I ran into a little trouble."

Ed and Al grinned, "It was nothing. Anyone else would have helped out too."

Kakashi and the rest of team 7 leaned in, "Really?" Kakashi asked expectantly.

Tsunami nodded, "Well, was when I was on my way home from the village getting some groceries."

Flashback

Tsunami was making her way down the peaceful forest path back to the house from the town just beyond the hill behind her. The birds were merrily chirping and small woodland creatures were going about their daily business, oblivious to woman traveling alone.

"Those ninja sure eat a lot more than I expected… I can't believe we're already out of food, and how long did they say they were going to stay?" Tsunami absently thought out loud. She stumbled over a rut in the path, nearly dropping the food she bought. "Careful Tsunami, can't have you dropping all the food," she said once again to herself.

She had just rounded a bend in the path when she spotted three rugged men dressed in rags. All three of them wore pretty much the same drab, torn, dirty brown clothes with daggers at their sides.

The first and smallest of the three glanced up and looked at Tsunami, "Well, look what we got here boys."

The other two looked up now as well, grinning and chuckling stupidly. These two were the obvious muscle of the group; they were both about medium build but looked at least able to handle their own in a fight. "Its dangerous fer li'l girls ta be walkin round alone, doncha know?" One of the bigger men said as he closed in on Tsunami. Tsunami backed away slowly, tightly clutching the bag of groceries to herself.

A rustle in the bushes just off the road caught the bandits' attention. "Al… You know better than to tease me about my height…." A blond with enchanting golden eyes said as he stepped onto the path with another blond in tow.

"I wasn't teasing you brother…. I was just a little surprised is all…" Al looked at the bandits and then to Tsunami. "I'm sorry. We seem to be interrupting something here."

Tsunami looked at the two blonds, "Hurry! Run! They're bandits!" she shouted worriedly.

Ed grinned widely. "Hey Al, it looks like we'll be able to test out alchemy out a little sooner than expected.

Al looked to Ed and sighed. He ALWAYS got like this before a fight. "How do I even put up with you? Jumping at the first chance to get into a fight and we only just got here."

The bandit leader blinked. Did he just hear them right? "Hah, like two shrimps like you could do anything to us!"

That was the last straw. Sure Ed hadn't been called short in several years. Sure he had become less 'enthusiastic' about punishing the people who called him short. SURE he had reverted to a younger body, but that didn't change the fact that he didn't like it anymore. Ed flew off the handle. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MICROSCOPIC ANT THAT YOU CAN ONLY SEE WITH A MICROSCOPE?"

Al sighed, "Here he goes again," and stepped back a few feet to give his brother a clear runway.

Fast as lightening Ed grabbed the two hulks by their collars and smashed their heads together. Ed threw the two at the feet of the remaining bandit. The leader bandit's mouth dropped to the ground and Tsunami decided it would be a good idea to give Ed his space… LOTS of space.

"Ju… Just who the hell are you!?" The bandit stammered looking between his two groaning companions and the infuriated blond.

"Names Ed, the Fullmetal Alchemist, or for you three; Death!" Ed replied as he cracked his knuckles.

The bandit quickly fumbled around for his dagger and pulled it up in front of himself. The bandit forced a cocky grin, "What now brat? I've got a weapon!" Ed stopped and looked at the bandit who began to laugh. The bandit lunged at Ed with his dagger and thrust it at Ed's stomach. Quickly Ed shifted to the side and fluidly dodged the thrust. The bandit followed up with a side slash meant for Ed's abdomen. Ed jumped back to distance them.

Ed slammed his hands together and grinned, "Who said I didn't have a weapon?" A bright light flashed from Ed's arm. Just as suddenly as the light came it left, leaving a very pointy looking weapon in place of his arm. Suddenly Ed leapt at the startled bandit who left himself completely open. Ed slammed his elbow into the unsuspecting bandit, who doubled over in pain. Ed grabbed the front of the bandit's shirt and held his sword arm to his throat.

"Beg me for mercy and I might let you live."

The bandit looked to Ed, fear in his eyes, "Ye… Yes! Please! Spare me! I take it back! You're not sho…"

Ed cut the bandit off with a swift blow to the head. "Idiot. I hate even hearing that word." Ed stood to his feet and dusted himself off. He looked over to Al who was shaking his head. "What? What did I do?"

End Flashback

Kakashi looked at the two boys sitting across from him. Apparently he would have to reappraise them. They hold some strange power that he had never heard of, I mean, c'mon… a jutsu that turns your arm into a sword, and not like his Raikiri, no this was a metal one by the sounds of it. THAT wasn't likely. Not only did they seem to be able to fight but they gave off an aura of calm and peace that made Kakashi seem to want to trust them… and that NEVER happened. He'd always been taught to distrust until given reason to trust someone. Kakashi forced himself out of his mental stupor when he noticed everyone staring at the usually collected jounin.

Kakashi waved his hand nonchalantly, "Sorry. Zoned out for a second." Kakashi looked around at everyone and turned back to Ed and Al, "Where did you say you were from again?"

"Resembool," Ed answered nonchalantly. Suddenly he stiffened. _SHIT!!!! I can't believe I let that slip! Hopefully, a Resembool either doesn't exist here or it really IS small! _Al stiffened as well when he heard his elder brother's answer. Both boys prayed hard then, to whatever deity might be listening.

Kakashi shrugged, Hm. Never heard of it." Both boys instantly relaxed at hearing that but not without Kakashi noting it. "Not to be rude but how long are you planning on staying in this area?"

"We were just on our way out actually. We were thinking of heading south." Al lied. They didn't plan on going very far, maybe into the woods a ways to train. After all, they hadn't used alchemy in almost two years, and this placed felt a little strange to them. There were many strange energies that float around.

Kakashi nodded, "I see…" He looked at them lazily.

Ed smiled, "Well. We really should be on our way." He began to stand to his feet when Tsunami interrupted him.

"Please, allow me to thank you! At least stay for a meal."

Al shook his head, "No reward is needed. We only did what anyone else would have done." Ed nodded in agreement

Tsunami shook her head, "I insist you stay. You must be tired from your travels."

Ed sighed; he just wasn't in the mood for arguing, "Fine. As reward you can point us in the direction the nearest town is. We need some things before we get back to our travels."

Tsunami frowned, "I see." She stood from the table and walked into the next room. Ed and Al looked at each other confused, as did the rest at the table aside from Kakashi, who, as usual, looked about in an uninterested fashion. Moments later Tsunami emerged from the nearby room and in her hands, she held a few small coins. She walked up to the two blond haired boys and gave them the coins. "It's not much," She said, "But I hope it can get you to your next destination." Then it dawned on them. They didn't have ANY of this world's currency, and without money, how could they finish their mission. Ed shrugged mentally, _we can always worry about that later, besides, we have alchemy to help out._

The two boys bowed, truly grateful, "Thank you, Tsunami." Tsunami blushed at the sign of gratitude.

"Please boys. I was only returning the favor, besides it's not much."

Ed looked up smiling, "Well. I guess we should get going."

Tsunami smiled and led them out the door, pointing them into the direction of town. She stood there and watched them disappear into the woods. "I wonder if we'll ever see them again." Someone said from next to her. Tsunami jumped and turned to find Naruto standing next to her.

"I'm sure you will Naruto."

Naruto looked up to her and smiled, "I have a feeling your right."

Once they were a good distance away from the house Ed turned to Al excitedly, "I can't believe we found them so EASILY!" Ed threw his fist into the air. "I mean; what luck that Tsunami had them at her home!"

Al nodded, obviously distracted by something. Ed noticed, "What's wrong Al?"

Al looked to his brother, "Oh, just thinking." Ed raised an eyebrow, signaling Al to continue, "They're NINJA, Ed. Why would they need out help? Shouldn't ninja be able to take care of themselves?"

Ed nodded, "I see." Then he shrugged. "No sense in dwelling on it. We'll just ask ol' fuzzy the next time we see him." Ed's mouth stretched into a mischievous grin,  
"Besides, we've got enough of a problem on our hands."

Al looked at Ed confused, "What problem?"

"It's been a while since we trained using alchemy, AND since we sparred." Al's eyes grew large, "It's about time we see which of us is the superior isn't it Al?"

Al grinned, he knew his brother all too well. "Of course Ed." He fell into his fighting stance and Ed into his, "Just don't expect me to go easy on you because you're shorter than me!"

Ed's face flushed a deep red color, "DAMN IT AL!!! I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT!" and Ed lunged at Al.

Thanks for reading and please review, also, I'm trying to come up with some good pairings so if anyone has a favorite pairing or even a unique one, please let me know.


	3. Chapter 3: Training

Not as long as I'd like it to be but I cut it where it made sense so I could post what I had, Enjoy!

I'm opening polls for pairings just want some feed back on these, please vote yes or no to the following and maybe give a reason why you voted that way:

Naru/Fem Haku (I have something interesting planned for Haku, and the pairing won't change that at all)

Ed/Saku (thanks to Sora76 for this one! You're right it is pretty origional!)

Anyway, please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fullmetal Alchemist

before I forget, due to something with FFnet you can't review until like chapter 5 for me because I had a chapters up till 4 before. Apparently it thinks you already reviewed for that chapter, so if you review or vote, please just send it as a message.

Chapter 3: A Time to Train

_Ed and Al's Training grounds_

The usually quiet forest erupted into something that resembled a full blown war. Two blond figures stood apart from one another, breathing heavily; sweat dripping down their battered and bruised faces. Simultaneously they fell to one knee. After a long pause to catch their breath, one spoke, "Looks like I still can't beat you in a fists only match, Al." (I figure I should explain this here. In the series, when Ed and Al infiltrated sector 5 I think it was. Ed says to the suit of armor that he isn't worried about Al because not once was he able to beat Al in a match. This leads me to believe that Al is the superior martial artist, while Ed is more gifted with alchemy.)

Al chuckled, "Yeah, but you beat me hands down in alchemy."

Ed struggled to stand to his feet but found himself unable to, so he opted to flop to his back instead. Al followed suit and the two brothers stared at the sky, regaining their strength. After a long moment of silence, Al decided to break into conversation.

"So… What do you think we should do about Naruto and the rest of the ninjas?"

Ed looked over to Al rolling onto his side, "Well, I guess we should keep a close eye on them. I mean, we need to know exactly what's going on don't we?" Al nodded for Ed to continue. "I think we should have one of us at the house there at all times, and the other will follow them wherever they go. We just need to be careful not to get caught."

Al nodded. It was a sound plan. Keep one at the house to watch for any threats, and just in case they split into more than one group, the one at the house can follow the second. Meanwhile the one following them can keep tabs on their activities. "I agree. So who stays and who follows?" Al was almost positive of the answer he was going to get, and knowing his brother, who he swore had a severe case of ADD; Al would get stuck with the tedious job of watching the house.

Let's just say that Ed NEVER disappoints…

_Team 7's Training ground_

Team 7's jounin sensei was weird, very weird in fact. Hatake Kakashi, also known and feared around the elemental countries as the "Copy Nin", had many personality quirks that only those who _HAD_ to deal with him would come to accept. One being his unusually high record of being late, for _everything_. Meeting with his new genin team? LATE. Meeting with the Hokage? LATE. Showing up for a date? LATE, well at least the last one he was able to get, but due to his lazy nature, women generally tend to avoid him, unless certain articles of clothing were removed. (coughfacemaskcough) In which case, the seemingly large Uchiha Sasuke fan club would be put to shame. But Kakashi's lateness wasn't the worst part about it, it was his excuses… I mean c'mon, can't you come up with anything better than getting lost on the road of life? This seems normal in comparison to the fact that everywhere Kakashi goes, he MUST have his precious Icha Icha Paradise books with him… but we're straying from the subject at hand here. What I was trying to prove is that Kakashi was weird, but what stood before the three genin now just defied all laws of physics… scratch that, it took physics, kicked it in the balls, and threw it into a pit of starving crocodiles. Kakashi was standing above the three, upside down. Now weird is normal for a ninja but Naruto had enough.

"What the HELL?!" the blond screamed causing the two others standing near him to cringe slightly. "How are you doing that?"

Kakashi chuckled to himself, _Gets 'em every time._ "Everyone knows what chakra control is correct?"

Of course it was Naruto who was the first to answer, "Of course I do! Who doesn't?"(For the sake of my own sanity, I'm going to skip the whole chakra control explanation… you all know it right? If you don't I'm sure narutofan should have it somewhere.)

Kakashi nodded in satisfaction, "Good." He dropped from the branch, landing in front of the team. "Now, since everyone knows about chakra and chakra control, I want you to climb these trees just as I did." Team 7 nodded, "Gathering chakra to the feet is the most difficult. By doing this you will increase your control over what chakra you have as well as building your chakra reserves." Kakashi threw three kunai in front of them, "Climb as high as you can go; use those as markers. Oh, and you might want a running start."

Kakashi watched as the three darted toward the trees, grabbing the kunai as they went. Naruto took one step on the tree and promptly fell on his backside; he sat up nursing his abused skull. Sasuke made it up a few steps but lost control over his chakra and was thrown from the tree, marking the trunk as he left the surface. Completing a backflip, Sasuke landed on his feet with a smug look of disappointment at the fact that he hadn't made it very far.

Kakashi smiled sadisticly, secretly enjoying driving his students nuts. "I see… so that's all the last Uchiha has to offer?" Kakashi shrugged and feigned exasperation, "It doesn't look so good for the future of your clan does it, Sasuke?"

Sasuke visibly began to fume. He was so pissed that Kakashi would even DARE to insinuate that he wasn't up to the task of climbing one measly tree. He would show him… no… He would show all of them what the Uchiha clan was truly capable of. He would be the FIRST of team 7 to make it up the tree if his name wasn't… Sasuke's thoughts were rudely interrupted by the soft thud of a kunai driving into the ground at his feet. Clearly annoyed at the person who would DARE to interrupt his thoughts, he followed the trajectory of the missile... upwards. When his gaze fell upon the blasphemous heathen that would dare to interrupt him in his mental monologue, he found himself in disbelief. He blinked, hoping that he was merely seeing things and this was no more than his eyes playing tricks on him. When that tactic failed he quickly formed the tiger hand seal and muttered, "Kai" under his breath, praying to any gods or demons that were listening that this was a genjutsu… but his hopes were crushed when he realized that the pink haired girl, the weakest link on the team, had in fact, one upped the genius rookie of the year.

Kakashi grinned. This just kept getting better and better. :D Taking advantage of the situation, Kakashi praised the only female in his unit, "Looks like we know which of the three of you has the best control over her chakra."

Sasuke fumed even more when a broad smile crossed Sakura's face. "_She thinks she can out do me eh?" _He thought to himself and glared at Sakura who was oblivious to the Uchiha's jelousy.

"_Of course Sasuke's chakra reserves puts her's to shame, and Naruto may even have more than me._" Kakashi thought to himself, but decided to keep that information to himself; he needed to piss Sasuke off enough to get him motivated… Hey… It worked in the past, so if the shoe fits, wear it, neh? Kakashi nodded to Sakura, "Alright. Keep going up and down the tree until you can't anymore, try walking once you feel comfortable." Kakashi looked to the two boys of the group and then back to Sakura, "If you feel generous and they ask for help, feel free to give them a tip or two." With that Kakashi lazily turned his back to the group and began making his way back to the house on his crutches. "Keep at it until dinner, I expect to see you all there."

With that said Naruto stood to his feet, more determined than ever and began to run up the tree again with Sasuke grumpily following suit.


	4. Chapter 3: Training Cont

Well... Truth be told I'm a little disapointed... I expected some votes on the pairings I listed but I only got one... So I've decided that I'll let the characters decide. This fic already seems to be taking on a lif of its own so I guess I'll see how the story pans out.

As time goes o I want to get a little more in depth with the characters that I have, I'm thinking about dedicating an entire chapter to each of the major character, as well as introducing some of the FMA squad to the narutoverse. I'm wondering if i should show what the FMA characters alternates are like, such as the narutoverse Roy Mustang, I already know that he is showing up :P If you want me to do a specific character let me know and maybe drop a few ideas my way.

Anywho back on track here. This is the final part of the training before the showdown on the bridge. That will be the next chapter, and I suspect it well be... VERY long. I tend to draw out major fight scenes :P Just let me know what you think, drop a review if you will please, and thanks for reading

Ed and Al's Training Grounds

The two brothers sat across from each other in a deep meditative state. During their training with their sensei, she insisted that they meditate to keep in touch with nature and things of that sort. They found that after a good training routine, meditation was also a great way to warm their selves down in a sense and to regain some of their energy. That wasn't the only reason for today though. Both had sensed a very strange, foreign, energy emanating from the ninjas. At first they thought it was just their minds playing tricks on them, but after talking together they found that it had to be something more, and meditation was the fastest and easiest way to find out. Meditation had come naturally to Al, him being of a gentle calm nature, he was just naturally suited to the more tedious and subtle things. Ed on the other hand, with his short attention span, found it much harder, but after a long time of practice; he became accustomed to doing it.

Both boys could sense the energy around them. Everything had an energy signature of some sort. Trees had one, the earth itself had one, even the air; but what bothered them both was that here, in this world, the elements seemed to radiate brighter, seemingly more powerful. They could see the world around them, green hazes represented vegetation, brown; the earth, but there was one color they didn't recognize… it was, white. There was never a white haze before, and what shocked them the most was that it came from the direction of the four from Konoha. It left the two completely dumbstruck. There was no explanation, except that these ninja had a power that they never encountered before. They had decided to be more cautious when dealing with the ninja from this point on.

After another half hour of meditation Ed stood to his feet and brushed the grass from his black pants. "Alright Al, I'm gonna head out to keep an eye on the four ninja." Al opened one of his eyes to look at Ed, "I'll see you tonight when I get back."

Al nodded his head in affirmation and closed his eyes to continue his meditation, "I'll just stay here a few minutes and then head to the house. Be careful not to get caught Ed."

Ed just nodded and walked in the direction he felt the strange power coming from. Whatever power it was these ninja had, he wanted to know more about it.

Team 7's Training Ground

With a quick burst of speed Naruto dashed to the tree and began to run up its trunk. After 30 feet he felt his concentration slip and quickly slashed the tree with a kunai and back flipped back to the ground. Breathing heavily he turned to see how his rival was faring… Damn… the bastard Uchiha had a full 2 feet on him still. He took a deep breath and looked at the tree menacingly and sighed to himself. He looked over to his other teammate and saw the pink haired girl resting against her tree trunk looking a bit exhausted. Suddenly a light popped into Naruto's head as an idea of immensely brilliant proportions began to make itself known to him. Quickly Naruto looked all around him and glanced quickly at Sasuke. Seeing his rival was still occupied with running up the infernal wooden torture devices, he began to creep ever so silently toward Sakura.

"Psst… Hey Sakura," The blond whispered to Sakura who was sitting against a tree, relaxing. When she heard Naruto call her, her eyes snapped open.

"What? And why are you whispering?" She said as she turned her head toward the blond ninja.

"Well," Naruto began, shifting his weight from foot to foot nervously. "I was hoping you might be able to help me get the hang of this…" His eyes shifted to the ground, "You got it so quickly and I was thinking you could teach me a trick or two."

Sakura looked at Naruto in surprise which turned to a calculating look. She looked him up and down and then smiled, "Since you asked, I guess I could."

Naruto's mouth split into a huge grin, "YATTA! You rock Sakura!" Meanwhile, in a tree, Sasuke looked down at Naruto and Sakura and frowned. _So… the dobe is asking for help. Looks like I'll have to step this up a notch. _With that Sasuke resumed his training.

A Few Days Later

Unbelievable… That was the only word that could be used to describe the scene in front of the golden eyed alchemist as he sat on a branch high in a tree. Below him, a blond was STILL trying to run up a tree. Now that in itself isn't so unbelievable it was the fact that he could actually make it a few yards up the tree is what had him completely dumbstruck. Ninjas where he came from had superb physical strength, sense, and overall ability, but they couldn't climb trees; well they probably could but they certainly couldn't just walk up the side of one!

As Ed watched in amazement, Naruto once again fell from the tree. Naruto, exhausted, managed to struggle to his feet and declare in an exhausted but determined voice, "I won't fall behind. I won't be 'dead last' anymore." Naruto clenched his fists at his sides, "I'll be Hokage one day, and I'll prove to them… I'll prove…" Naruto's voice began to drift as his body began to sway, "I won't…. give… up…" and at the last word his body fell to the ground.

Ed looked on with concern. "Is… is he dead?" He asked himself in a whisper. Ed jumped from the tree and landed silently. Slowly he made his way to the would be corpse and saw his chest rising and falling. Ed breathed a sigh of relief and sat next to the boy. He fondly looked over to the loud-mouthed ninja and smiled to himself. "You have so much talent… Talent that you didn't exactly ask for. In a sense it's a blessing, but it can be a curse too." Ed closed his eyes and looked to the stalit sky, basking in the icy blue light from the moon. The breeze picked up just a tad and rustled his hair and clothing some. "I know how it is. Having a gift that was built on the misfortune and suffering of others…" Ed clenched his right arm and brought it into view. "But… you can't let that stop you from using that gift to protect the ones you love…" Ed smiled to himself and began to stand back up, "but it looks like you already knew that." Ed took off his coat and laid it over top of Naruto's sleeping form. Ed stood to his feet and began to walk away, "Looks like I made the right decision in coming here."

Ed spent the rest of the night without sleep watching over Naruto.

The Next Morning

Ed woke with a start when he felt an unfamiliar power approach. Quickly he jumped to his feet, cursing the fact that he fell asleep. He quickly walked over to Naruto and grabbed his coat, throwing it over his back as he hastily hid himself from view. Only moments after Ed had hidden, a young girl dressed in a flowered sundress walked into the clearing carrying a wicker basket, merrily humming a tune to herself. When she came across Naruto's sleeping form she jumped a bit, obviously surprised to see someone sleeping on the forest floor. She calmly walked over to his sleeping form and knelt down next to it. She was about to wake him when she heard a voice from behind her.

"I wouldn't move if I were you," A young male voice spoke softly from behind her. Instantly every alarm in her mind went off. And she fought the urge to swing around and face the person who halted her. "Turn around slowly, I don't want any funny business ya hear?" the voice spoke again. Slowly the girl turned to face the blond haired boy who stood there with his arms folded across his chest. A smile crossed his features, "Name's Ed." The boy then gestured to her and she assumed he wanted her name.

"You startled me, my name is Haku," she answered, voice oozing cuteness that seemed to sugar coat every word that came from her mouth. She had used this technique many a time and it rarely failed to fool.

Ed looked at Haku with a calculating eye, "Haku, huh?" He said more to himself than to anyone else. "I've got some questions," the blond said with a small smile.

"Ah, certainly. Ask away." Haku said smiling her most disarming smile.

Ed relaxed his position a bit, "What're you doing out here so early? Isn't it a little dangerous for a girl to be wandering around a forest all alone?" Haku smiled at him.

"I am collecting herbs for someone who was injured," she said avoiding using Zabuza's name, just in case this boy was with those ninja from Konoha.

Ed nodded, "He must be seriously injured if you're using those herbs." Haku's eyes widened a bit at that. This boy must be well versed in the medical field to be able to identify these herbs in the blink of an eye. Her disposition didn't escape Ed's notice so he decided to push a bit further, "How was he injured?"

Haku's mind raced for an explanation, ANY explanation. "Umm, h-he was injured… injured while at work." She managed to sputter out.

Ed smirked to himself. She was definetly hiding something, and that look in her eye when she spotted Naruto told him it wasn't good. Besides she gave off an aura that reminded him of something… only… he couldn't recall what that was at the moment. "Ah, what does he do?"

Haku forced herself to calm down. There was no way that this boy would know anything, he wasn't even there, and he didn't have much more chakra that an average civilian would have if her senses didn't betray her. There was no use in getting all worked up over nothing, so she calmed herself and answered in a more confident tone, "He is a trader, he was injured while transp…" Ed shot up his hand to stop her. He finally remember what he felt from her. It was the same thing he felt from the other ninja…

"You can stop lying now." He glared at Haku. Haku paled visibly, she had seen eyes like his before… they aren't the eyes of a killer, no, nothing so cold. They spoke of untold horrors and misfortune and seemed to radiate a power of their own, and her senses told her, that power wasn't something she wanted to experience. "You're a ninja… and you're probably the reason why these guys…" Ed said motioning to Naruto's still sleeping form, "are on such edge."

Haku's gaze fell to the ground, she had been found out…. She was afraid this spelled the end for her, "_Forgive me Zabuza-sama_" she thought to herself. Slowly she nodded.

Ed sighed and sat motioned her to follow. Curiosity over took her and she followed him to a small clearing near there. Ed flopped heavily to the ground and motioned her to have a seat as well. Haku sat directly across from him. Ed looked to Haku, "I want to hear the full story in detail."

Haku nodded and complied, telling him everything from being hired by Gatou to the attack on the group from Konoha. After the story, she sat there quietly, waiting for him to make his move. She had expected him to kill her, slap her, or something of that sort, but what he did surprised her. He stood to his feet and offered her his hand. She looked up at Ed questioningly.

"Part of my code is that I don't hit girls, no matter what happens…" He stood there waiting for her to take his hand. Slowly she placed her small pale hand into his and he pulled her to her feet. "Go to Zabuza and tell him that he should just leave." Haku opened her mouth to protest but was promptly cut off as Ed spoke louder, "Tell him that if he still wants to kill Tazuna, he'll have to come through me." Ed's eyes narrowed at Haku, "I can tell you're innocent. I sense it in your aura. That's why I'm giving you this chance." Haku nodded dumbly, unable to respond. Ed turned his back to Haku and began to walk away, "Have a good one." He said as he casually made his way back to the camp with Al. Haku stood there a moment in shock before she turned to gather the rest of the herbs she needed.

Insert the standard Haku runs into Naruto sleeping on the ground at the end there... you all know it so I don't really feel the need to write it out :P If you think I'm lazy because of it, then you're right!

Please read and review!


	5. Chapter 4: When The Going Gets Tough

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN FMA NOR NARUTO!!!!!!! damn...

Well ladies and gents, this is the next installation of Beyond the Gates, it's not as long as I wanted it but it'll have to do for now... I'm already most of the way done with the next part.. it's just that fighting scenes are kinda rough to do sometimes... and I'm still working it out. Thanks for reading so far and I hope you like the rest of it!

On a different note, I'm hoping for a beta, someone well versed in the area of "sentence structure"... I've never really done to well with that :P any way, if you're interested or if you just want to talk, drop me a message on IM or an E-mail, it's mymilkman (at) hotmail (dot) com I'd also like to talk to some one who might be able to translate some things for me into Japanese

--At Ed and Al's Camp--

Exhaustion finally set in and Ed collapsed to the ground with a loud thud in front of the clearing that he and Al were using as a base. Al quickly jumped to his feet inside the little hut they built at the sound. Quickly he ran out into the clearing where he spotted Ed, unconscious and his face firmly planted in the earth. The worst possible scenarios played in Al's mind when he saw his older brother bite the dust in the most literal sense.

Quickly he ran to his side and turned him onto his back, praying he was ok. Al quickly ran his eyes over his brother's body. No cuts, no bruises, maybe a little dirty but other than that he was perfectly fine. Al let out a sigh of relief when he saw his chest rise and fall, a sure sign that he was still breathing. Al slowly pulled Ed into his arms and began carrying him back to the tent. Sometimes he really wondered who was the older brother of the two…

Ten minutes later:

Ed's eyes fluttered open when the suns rays shown brightly into his eyes. Cursing softly to himself he began to prop himself up on his elbows when a voice spoke out, "Geez Ed. I'm not sure what the hell you did but…" Al looked over at Ed for a moment as if to size him up, "you sure did a number on yourself."

Ed chuckled and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "Heh. Naruto spent whole night out training…" Al nodded. It wasn't too hard to believe being that these _were_ ninja they were talking about here. Ed's eyes lit up as he continued, "oh, and I think I found out why they have such a different aura than what we're used to."

Al almost did a double take when he heard this, Ed had been gone for one night and he already figured out one of the questions they had developed so many theories about. Al shook his head and chuckled, "Alright, let's hear it."

Ed jumped to his feet excitedly, "It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen Al!" Ed's eyes gleamed with an excitement that Al hadn't seen in his eyes since… well, since he first learned to use alchemy without the circles. It made Al wonder what the big deal was. Ed grinned and continued, "These ninja can walk up the side of a tree without using their hands! Apparently they use something called "chakra" to make themselves stick!" Ed remembered overhearing Sakura explain the basics of the exercise they were doing to Naruto. It fascinated Ed to no end but he just couldn't understand how they did it…

Al's eyes widened, "So that's why we're sensing such different energies from them." Ed whirled on Al, "Exactly, I can't imagine what else…" Ed was suddenly cut short when he fell forward. Al caught him just before he hit the ground.

"Ed… you need to rest," Al chided him gently.

Ed suddenly felt the effects of staying up so late after a heavy sparing match and his eyelids began to droop closed, "Yeah I got yah Al," Ed laid his head back down and finally began to succumb to the gentle pull of sleep, "I guess you… get to watch the team today." Ed's head rolled to the side slightly and his eyes finally drooped closed. Al stood when he noticed Ed's breathing even out into a steady beat. He couldn't help but smirk when he looked down at Ed. He was sleeping with his stomach showing again, "I swear Ed, you're going to catch your death of cold one of these days." Al threw a small blanket over Ed and began to make his way over to the bridge to catch up with the mysterious ninja.

--Heading to the Bridge--

Al was walking along the forest floor when he heard the telltale sound of footsteps crunching softly on the twigs that littered the path. Al quickly ducked down behind some thick low standing brush on the side of the road. Only moments later he could hear the old man… what was his name again? Oh! That's right, Tazuna. He could hear Tazuna boasting loudly about how his_super_ bridge would bring _super_ profits to all the _super_ businesses in the _super amazingly awesome _Land of Waves. Al sighed mentally. The only thing that was more annoying than someone that was full of themselves was someone that was full of themselves and liked to use the word super to describe everything. Mentally shaking himself from his momentary stupor, Al parted the brush in front of him to see that all of team seven, minus Naruto was there. Al mentally made note of that, hoping that Ed would swing by Tazuna's house before catching up with him.

The band of four made their way past Al. Once the coast was clear, Al walked into the clearing and followed the path to the bridge, taking care to make sure he was far enough behind the group so they wouldn't notice him.

--At the Bridge--

The bridge came into view and Sasuke mentally cheered… not that he would tell anyone else that. The old man they were escorting was starting to grate on his nerves. Apparently listening to the same thing said over and over was one of the few things that made the last Uchiha want to go on a killing spree. Luckily for Tazuna and the rest of the Country of Waves, Sasuke had nearly immesurable control over most of his human emotions making him seem like an emotionless doll to most who saw him. Despite that fact he was visibally relieved when Tazuna shut up and began to speed up to get to the bridge faster.

When the team got closer to the bridge the fog that thickly blanketed the bridge, lowering visibility noticeably, they knew something was out of place. Sasuke looked around and immediately the wheels in his head started turning… The bridge was the only place that the fog had covered. On their way to the site, there had been no fog at all… VERY suspicious if you ask him. The second thing that told him that something was definetly wrong was the fact that Kakashi suddenly looked more alert. But even with those bits of evidence, it wasn't nearly as obvious the final bit, as a matter of fact, he almost garaunteed that even Sakura could draw the same conclusions when the bodies of the bridge builders came into view. Yes… something was wrong, and Sasuke was sure enough to bet his Sharingan that it had something to do with a certain mist duo.

--er... still at the bridge, but somewhere else :P--

Every fiber in Al's being suddenly began screaming. Something was off about this fog. It felt like it was supercharged with some unknown energy and he knew immediately that it wasn't a good thing and when the bridge came into view he was sure that this had something to do with what the mystery kitsune that brought them here.

Al quickly made his way to the bridge where he saw the three ninja in a stare down with two unknown people. He didn't know what it was that made him more nervous, the feeling of overwhelming bloodlust or the monstrosity of a sword the one man had on his back. Either way… he just KNEW this wasn't going to end well. Al jumped behind some crates nearby when the saw the boy, Sasuke was his name, take out several clones of the bandage man. He wouldn't jump in unless he had to, and he hoped against hope that it didn't come to that.

--Ed and Al's Camp--

Ed groaned as the sunlight finally became unbearable… seriously, how was anyone expected to get sleep when they had the sun beaming into their eyes? Ed slowly pushed himself to a sitting position, yawning loudly. Ed slowly stood to his feet and walked out of the tent. Looking around he didn't see AL. "That's right. I told him to take the team today… great. That means I get to sit around watching the house all day…" Ed moaned in poorly disguised disgust.

He did some morning (in this case early afternoon) stretches and headed back into the tent to change. Once full clothed again he threw his favorite red coat over his back and headed into the direction the house was in.

--Heading to the House--

Ed slowly made his way down the forest path to the house in quiet contemplation. How was it that these ninja did what they did? Was there any way that he could learn it? There were so many questions that he had no answers to, and so far the only one that they could get answers from was currently locked into some 12 year old's stomach... and how was it exactly that this "Kyuubi" expected to speak to them when he had no effect on the outside world... He had so many questions and so few answers.

While lost in thought he failed to notice the approach of a certain blond haired ninja as he made his way through the forest tree tops when he suddenly tripped over something. Ed cried out in panic as he threw his arms out in front of himself and caught himself from a potentialy painful meeting with the ground.

Naruto suddenly jerked to a hault in his tree hoping and whipped around to find the source of the yell. Down on the forest floor he saw the familiar red clad blond from a few days before. Naruto lept off the branch and to the forest floor behind the other blond.

"Damn... how did I not see this thing..." Ed muttered to himself as he looked to the rather large corpse of a boar he just tripped over. There was a light tap behind him and he instantly stiffened. Ed cast a glance over his shoulder and let a breath out. "Jeez, Naruto... Scared the hell outta me."

Naruto grinned and waved at Ed, "Yeah, well. What do you expect? I'm a ninja."

Ed smiled, "Yeah.. You are aren't you?" Ed looked around. "Where you headed? I don't see the rest of you here."

Naruto's smile faded a bit, "Yeah the rest of the team left me back at the house to rest after last night." His grin returned in full and he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "I kinda overdid it in training last night."

Ed chuckled and took a better look at his surroundings. The trees were slashed in many places and low hanging limbs were cut from the trees. Ed fell into a stance and tossed a paniced glance to Naruto, "I think somethings wrong."

Naruto looked at Ed slightly puzzled until he too looked around and noticed the condition of the forest around them. "It goes back to the house!" Naruto started to panic. Kakashi said that Zabza and his men might try something while they were at the bridge... this must be it! Withough saying more Naruto jumped to the trees and began to make his way back home, while Ed made a sprint toward the house following just after Naruto.

--At the House--

Ed and Naruto arrived at the house at around the same time, much to Naruto's surprise. _This guy acctually kept up with a ninja tree hoping while he was on the ground... what the hell!?_ Naruto's thought were interupted when Ed suddenly lept forward toward the house. Two men were dragging Tsunami while Inari chased after them in blind rage. Two word crossed Naruto's mind at this moment, oh, and shit.

--At the Bridge (I'll bet you love all the jumping)--

"Tazuna-san! Get down!" Sakura screamed when she noticed the distinct whistle of senbon slicing through the air. She jumped at Tazuna, praying she could make it to him in time. Reality seemed to slow to a stop as she hurled herself into the stray projectile's trajectory. Tazuna's eyes widened as he noticed the needles headed his way. Sakura's pulse quickened in he desperation, however she knew it was too late. Suddenly, like magic, the ground shook and a wall of concrete erupted from the bridge, knocking the senbon harmlessly away.

"_What the hell was that!?"_ Was Sakura's only thought as she fell to the ground hard. Tazuna, who fell to his rear when the wall erected, shakily picked himself off the ground.

From behind them a voice spoke softly, "I apologize. I was nearly too late." Sakura spun on her heels pulling a kunai out, ready to defend Tazuna and herself. Slowly a hazy figure began to emerge from the dense fog. Sakura's hands began to shake as the figure crept closer at a walking pace. She swallowed hard and tightened her grip on her weapon, steeling herself for the battle to come.

The figure finally came within sight, golden blond hair adorned his head, and deep amber eyes looked on with concern, his red trench coat hanging lazily off his shoulders. Sakura let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Thank God," she whispered to herself, causing the blond to smile.

--Again! At the House--

"Damn you bastards!" The small boy screamed in rage as he charged the two thugs. He slammed hard into the nearest one.

"Damn kid." The thug mumbled to himself, backhanding Inari. Inari flew back several feet landing hard. He turned back to the woman his partner was holding, "Sorry lady, but I can't let this one slide." The woman began to thrash wildly, screaming, with tears flowing from her eyes. The thug pulled his katana from its sheath and took a quick step toward the boy. His sword came down like lightening but instead of the clean slice and bloody spray he was expecting, his sword halted mid stroke.

A blond boy clad in a red trench coat stood between the thug and his would be victim. The thug looked at the blond in surprise when his blade cracked and snapped in half under the boy's iron grip. A smirk crossed his face and his golden eyes danced with a look that promised pain. "Bad move, pal." Ed whispered as he slammed his left knee into the thug's gut, cracking a few ribs and knocking him unconscious.

The blond spun around to face the remaining thug. The thug panicked and drew his katana, holding it to Tsunami's throat. "Stay back or she dies," The thug grinned evilly at Ed. "I guess you didn't think things through."

Ed smirked cockily, " What will you do without a hostage though?"

The thug frowned, "What the hell are you talking about? I've got one right…" He was cut off when he pulled on his hostage's hair and was suddenly surrounded by a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared he was holding a mop upside down instead of the "insurance" he was expecting. He cursed loudly when he felt someone grip his arms from behind. A ninja dressed in orange landed in a crouching position in front of him, facing Ed. Ed grinned, "Good to finally see you."

Naruto nodded, " Yeah. You know what they say though," Naruto began rolling up his sleeves. " The superhero always shows up at the last minute!"

Ed's smile grew even larger at this; he could tell he was going to like this kid. Naruto pulled his fist back and pivoted, building momentum and planted a full body punch to the thug's face. The force of the blow was enough to send the poor, now disfigured man flying.

Naruto flashed a grin at Inari and said, "Not bad kid. I think I've changed my opinion of you." before he took off into the forest again. Ed watched Naruto leave and turned back to Inari.

"Good job. Now you and your mother get inside." Ed smiled at Inari, "We'll take it from here." And with that Ed left.

What will happen in the next installment? Will Ed and Al ever figure out how to get ahold of Kyuubi ? How will Kakashi take to Ed butting in on his fight? What will happen to Haku and Zabuza????????? Stay tuned for some answers! (but most likely more questions :P)

Any way, thanks for reading and please remember to review! The more reviews I get the faster the next update will come!


	6. Chapter 5: Confrontation at the bridge

Well, here's the next chapter, I plan on updating the next chapter soon, I'm almost finished with it, but I wanted to get this one out there before hand. At the end will be a ranking of several character's skills and power ratings just to give you an idea as to how Ed and Al fit into the world atm.

Enjoy :D

* * *

"_Easy does it Ed..._" Ed began this simple mantra in his mind to keep his body from shivering. The power that hung in the air, as thick as the fog around him sent his body into a near panicked state, leaving him very nervous and jumpy. The sound of metal clashing against metal in the distance did nothing to settle his nerves. The oddly quiet orange clad ninja that stood next to him didn't seem to feel the power that hung thick in the air as much as he did, but Ed passed that off a one of those "ninja things" that was a list growing surprisingly large of late. Ed shook his head to clear his mind... he was getting off topic. He shifted his gaze from the blond next to him to the thick layer of fog that covered what was supposed to be a bridge. The fog was so thick you could almost literally cut it with a knife, in fact he was having a bit of a hard time breathing, but whether that was from the sheer power emanating from what felt like two sources or from the insane amounts of moisture in the air he wasn't sure. "_We need a plan..._" Ed thought to himself as he studied the heavy mist that hung over what he assumed to be the bridge. Ed thought for several moments before coming up with a suitable plan and turned to relay his thoughts to his blond counterpart... well he would have... if he was still there. Ed looked around frantically, looking for Naruto, only to see him halfway to the bridge already. Ed smacked his palm to his forehead in frustration and sighed to himself, wondering, not for the last time, why the hell he listened to the damned fur ball...

Kakashi's hear raced as his mind went into overdrive. If he moved to help Sasuke out, Zabuza would make short work of Sakura and Tazuna. His panic increased when another scream came from the dome of ice, where Sasuke was currently fighting for his life against the mysterious girl named Haku. With the way he saw it he had two choices, jump in to save Sasuke or stay put and fight Zabuza... but with either choice he would most likely lose a team member. Kakashi mentally sighed, making up his mind, "_I hope you can hold off long enough for me to finish this Sasuke._" He drew a kunai from his pouch and settled into a ready stance. "Zabuza," Kakashi called to his opponent, "this is where..." He was interupted though when a small explosion sounded and a cloud of smoke billowed near the dome of ice.

After a moment the smoke began to thin revealing a certain brightly colored individual who gave a shit-eating grin, " Never fear," he said striking a (what he thought) dramatic pose, "Uzumaki Naruto is here!"

It was at that point that Kakashi regretted his decision to NOT beat the stupidity out of his blond student.

----

A high-pitched whistling was the only warning he had before something painfully forced its way into his skin. Sasuke muttered a curse under his breath as he once again was force to abandon his position before the area was littered with senbon needles. The fight was drawing on too long and Sasuke was beginning to feel the toll his injuries were having on his body. The girl he now knew as Haku was fast, much more so now that she had these god cursed mirrors. At first he was confident he could keep up with her, but that all changed when he saw her first attack. It was so fast; he didn't even see her move. Well, at least his body was beginning to react better and she seemed to be wearing down, looks like this technique used a lot of chakra. Maybe if he could last longer...

His thought process came to a sudden and very abrupt halt when he heard a voice from behind him. "Holy shit... what the hell happened to you?" Sasuke spun around quickly in alarm and pulled a kunai into hand, facing the newcomer causing the owner of the unknown voice to stumble backwards and land flat on his ass.

"Itai..." Naruto moaned as he stood back to his feet and rubbed his sore butt. Sasuke sighed in relief and lowered his arm when reality struck him. "YOU DUMBASS!" Sasuke suddenly screamed at Naruto in rage. "What the HELL are you doing in here!?"

Naruto, faking a hurt look faced Sasuke, "I'm merely here to help your royal highness save his royal ass."

Sasuke wasn't very happy at the moment, as a matter of fact, he couldn't remember the last time he felt this pissed off before... well... other than the time that Naruto pulled that prank on him back in the academy. The result of which left his skin a light purple and pink polka doted hue for nearly a month... but he wasn't really thinking that hard on the subject at the moment. Sasuke's face began to turn red with rage, "I meant what the FUCK were you thinking coming INSIDE an UNKNOWN technique and just casually strolling up to me, scaring the SHIT OUT OF ME!"

By this time Naruto was leaning back away from Sasuke using his hand as a shield from the spit flying from his mouth. "Jeez, Sasuke. If it's that time of the month don't take it out on me."

Sasuke almost lost it there... almost being the keyword here. Slowly Sasuke convinced himself that the current situation wasn't as bad as it seemed, and that now that Naruto was here, there were two targets instead of one... as a matter of fact, maybe he could convice this Haku that Naruto was a better target and just get rid of future headaches... Sasuke shook his head, leaving that line of thought and got back on track. "Alright Naruto... here's the deal. She's faster than I am, so fast it almost seems like she attacks from every angle at once. You have the Kage Bunshin, and I have Katon: Goukakyu no jutsu... so our techniques might work if we use them together..."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Well, why don't you just blast the ice mirrors with your Katon technique?"

Sasuke shook his head, "Doesn't work... The flames aren't hot enough to melt the ice." Sasuke watched Naruto's face fall at that piece of information. "Don't worry though. I've got a plan..." Sasuke began before he was interrupted by a loud, "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Sasuke sighed to himself, not realizing that this wasn't the first plan ruined this day by the Number One Most Unpredictable Ninja of Konoha, Uzumaki Naruto.

----

Ed couldn't help but wonder where that damned blond ninja had gotten to as he attempted to navigate his way through the thick fog that settled over the area. He had to wonder where all this damned fog came from in the first place. By nature fog is created when a body of water is warmer than the air around it, but he had never seen fog this thick before, or filled with an unknown energy. Whatever this fog was, he was sure it wasn't natural. Lost in his thoughts, Ed nearly missed spotting three crouched forms in front of a wall of earth. Looking closer, it didn't seem that the figures noticed him. Deciding to get the drop on them, Ed crouched low to the ground and began to slowly creep towards them.

----

Something was off. Al couldn't help but wonder what it was. It could have been the unsettling feeling the fog gave him, almost like the feeling one gets just before lightening strikes, but he couldn't place what was causing it. Looking around at the old man and the pink haired girl next to him he sighed, "_It doesn't look like either of them could defend themselves in combat... I'll need to make sure they stay safe._"

Al shifted in his crouch to look at Sakura who was shaking in fear. "Haruno-san, please calm yourself. It won't do to have you worked into such a frenzy before the enemy is even within sight. A calm mind in the midst of battle is key to a desirable outcome." He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled slightly, "There is no need to worry, if worst comes to worse I shall fight as well."

Sakura couldn't help but feel a bit better after the young man's speech. For someone that looked to only be around her age, give or take a year or two, he had a lot of wisdom. It almost seemed that he was used to battle and life or death situations, she wondered exactly where this enigma really came from. He couldn't be what he said he was. A simple traveler, a civilian traveler at that, keeping calm in the midst of the insane amount of killer intent Zabuza was pouring out was simply unheard of. So Sakura came to the conclusion that he just HAD to be hiding something... but this wasn't the time to be shunning any sort of help that was offered so she shook the thoughts of the young blond and his companion from her head and focused on the task at hand.

The rustling of clothing from behind her brought her out of her daze. She looked to where Al had been to find him with his back to her and in what looked like a ready position. "Haruno-san, be on alert. There is someone lurking nearby." Sakura's body stiffened at the simple warning. Panic began to spread through her again as the adrenaline began to pump through her veins. Sakura stood to her feet and pulled a kunai out of her pouch, ready to slice at the intruder at a moments notice. She was expecting an attack at any moment, but when the silence carried on for what seemed like hours, she began to relax, thinking it was a false alarm. "Haruno-san, do not relax just yet. This one seems to know what he's doing." It was at that time a voice came from behind Sakura.

"Al?" The voice whispered. The surprise of having someone sneak up on her from behind coupled with the adrenaline rush from earlier caused Sakura to panic. With a shriek, she spun on her heel and buried the kunai into the right arm of the unknown person. The person grabbed Sakura's wrist with his other hand and yanked it free of the kunai. "You're really starting to annoy me, you know that?" Sakura looked up to find it was the other boy that helped Tsunami.

Sakura's eyes grew wide and she pulled away from Ed. "I'm so sorry!" She managed to squeak out between bows.

Ed looked to the semi-panicked state of the young girl in front of him and sighed, "Eh, it's no biggie. I can't feel it anyway." He said as he yanked the lodged kunai from his metallic arm. He held the kunai up to examine it a bit, shrugged, and held his hand out to give it back to Sakura.

Dumbstruck, Sakura reached out and took the kunai. She had heard of prosthetic limbs before, but nothing she had heard of worked with such realism. The replacements were always made of hooks or a claw of some sort that could open and close, but this limb emulated all the abilities of a real human arm, from the bending of the fingers and thumbs to the swift almost natural movement of the elbow. It was astonishing how well the arm worked.

Ed couldn't help but chuckle a bit at Sakura's amazement and was about to show her what it looked like under his sleeve when Al interrupted. "I realize that this is the first time you have seen auto-mail Haruno-san, but I believe we have more important business to direct our attention to at the moment."

Ed nodded in agreement, "Well, Naruto should be here somewhere. The kid's too eager for his own damn good. Just rushed in here without a plan."

Al raised an eyebrow, "If I recall correctly, you would have done the same not too many years ago, Nii-san."

Ed had the decency to look sheepish. "Well, I've changed a lot since then." Ed's face changed to one of complete seriousness, "What's the situation here?"

Al looked Ed in the eye. This was one of the things he'd never understand about his brother. His ability to change from a joking manner to one of seriousness was unnatural. With a face to match Ed's seriousness Al looked around himself, "From what I gather, there are two enemies of unknown power and ability. Their names are Momochi Zabuza and Haku. Apparently this heavy fog is a direct result of a technique called "Kirigakure no jutsu" used by one, Momochi Zabuza. So far I've managed to remain undetected by both the enemy and ally parties that are currently engaged in battle." Al paused a moment to take in the scenery once more. "I believe Haruno-san has more intel, since she has been here since the beginning." Both Ed and Al turned to face Sakura at this point, who blinked at the sudden mention of her name. "If you would Haruno-san?"

"Umm... What do you need to know?" Sakura asked not completely sure she could trust them. Something just seemed off about these two.

Ed paused for a moment to think, "Well, I suppose for now, I need to know the condition of your teammates and who is fighting who."

"I'm not exactly sure about Sasuke-kun's condition, but that girl used a weird technique on him a while ago. It looks like a dome made of ice mirrors or something. I don't know anything more about that, and it looks like Kakashi-sensei is just staring at Zabuza." Suddenly the sound of metal against metal rang through the thick air. Apparently, Kakashi and Zabuza decided they had enough of just waiting.

Ed looked at Al, "Well, looks like things have gotten off to a good start." He looked in the direction of the ice mirrors, "Why don't you go help out Sasuke, I'll bet Naruto is there with him." Al nodded in response. "I'll go help Kakashi with this Zabuza guy." With a grin Ed took off to the last place he heard the fighting.

Al looked back to Sakura, "Haruno-san." Sakura looked towards Al, determination settling in her eyes. "I do not think it necessary to say but, be careful." Sakura just nodded and reached for her weapon pouch. With that warning, Al went to help Sasuke.

----

Concentration is key when it comes to detecting someone without the use of one's eyes, and as such, Kakashi was concentrating as hard as he could on finding the location of one Momochi Zabuza, infamous Demon of the Mist. He cursed his luck, not for the first time, when Zabuza used that damnable Kirigakure no jutsu. He didn't let anyone know it, but since he acquired the Sharingan through an eye transplant, he didn't easily have full access to all of the Sharingan's abilities. If he wanted to use an ability the Sharingan granted him it cost him double the amount of chakra it did for an Uchiha. So needless to say, he COULD use the Sharingan in this fog, but it would most likely leave his chakra reserves completely dry. The most efficient way for Kakashi to fight in the current circumstances would be to conserve his chakra and rely on his ninja honed senses. Unfortunately, that was much easier said then done when your opponent is Momochi Zabuza, since he is one of the most renowned masters of the Silent Killing techniques, which means, if he doesn't want you to know where he is, you're gonna have one hell of a time finding him.

_He's coming._

Kakashi's senses sprung to life as he felt a presence close in on the left. Quickly he stepped back, and only just in time, as mere moments after he moved a huge sword sliced down through the air where he once was, embedding itself into the concrete. Kakashi flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding a kick aimed for his head. He land several yards away expecting another attack, but nothing came.

Kakashi sighed and began to concentrate again. "Let's see," Kakashi thought to himself as he scanned the area with his senses. "I see fog... fog... more fog... a strange collection of energy... fog... wait... energy!?" Kakashi's eyes shot open when a powerful gust of wind buffeted the area, pushing the heavy fog away. Kakashi was forced to protect his eyes with his arm until the wind finally died down. When the fog was lifted, all that remained was a shocked Zabuza, an equally surprised Kakashi, and a blond with a red coat billowing in what was left of the wind.

* * *

Ok, now for some of the power ratings, These are good up until about the beginning of the chunin exams.

Below is a description of the ranking system and how many points per rank

Rank E: no skill in the area 0 Points

Rank D: Very little skill in the area (About graduate genin level) 20 Points

Rank C: Moderate skill in the area (High genin-Low Chunin level) 40 Points

Rank B: Average skill in the area (Mid-High chunin level) 60 Points

Rank A: Skilled in the area (Low-Mid jounin level) 80 Points

Rank S: Very skilled in the area (High jounin- Kage level) 100 Points

Rank EX: Mastered the area (umm... well... Super kage level?) 120 points

Within each rank a level is given to signify how far into the ranking they are, 0 being the lowest and 9 being the highest, giving each ranking (except Rank E) 10 levels.

Name: Edward Elric

Alliance: N/A

Elemental Affinity: N/A

Ninja Ranking: N/A

Stats-  
Chakra Capacity: Rank: E 0  
Chakra Control: Rank: E 0  
Taijutsu: Rank: A Level 1 81  
Ninjutsu: Rank: E 0  
Genjutsu: Rank: E 0  
Fuuinjutsu: Rank: E 0  
Alchemy: Rank: EX Level 4 124  
Bloodline: Rank: E 0  
Intelligance: Rank: B Level 1 61  
Strength: Rank: C Level 6 46  
Speed: Rank: B Level 1 61  
Stamina: Rank: B Level 1 61  
Adaptability: Rank: A Level 1 81

Threat Rating: 515

----

Name: Alphonse Elric

Alliance: N/A

Ninja Ranking: N/A

Stats-  
Chakra Capacity: Rank: E 0  
Chakra Control: Rank: E 0  
Taijutsu: Rank: B Level 1 61  
Ninjutsu: Rank: E 0  
Genjutsu: Rank: E 0  
Fuuinjutsu: Rank: E 0  
Alchemy: Rank: EX Level 1 121  
Bloodline: Rank: E 0  
Intelligance: Rank: B Level 7 67  
Strength: Rank: C Level 5 45  
Speed: Rank: C Level 9 49  
Stamina: Rank: B Level 4 64  
Adaptability: Rank: A Level 8 88

Threat Rating: 495

----

Name: Kakashi Hatake

Alliance: Konohagakure no sato

Elemental Affinity: Lightning

Ninja Ranking: Jounin

Stats-  
Chakra Capacity: Rank: A Level 8 88  
Chakra Control: Rank: A Level 5 85  
Taijutsu: Rank: A Level 0 80  
Ninjutsu: Rank: S Level 1 101  
Genjutsu: Rank: B Level 8 88  
Fuuinjutsu: Rank: D Level 7 27  
Alchemy: Rank: E 0  
Bloodline: Rank: B Level 4 64  
Intelligance: Rank: A Level 9 89  
Strength: Rank: B Level 7 67  
Speed: Rank: B Level 7 67  
Stamina: Rank: B Level 9 69  
Adaptability: Rank: B Level 4 64

Threat Rating: 889

----

Name: Sasuke Uchiha

Alliance: Konohagakure no Sato

Elemental Affinity: Fire

Ninja Ranking: Genin

Stats-  
Chakra Capacity: Rank: C Level 2 42  
Chakra Control: Rank: C Level 1 41  
Taijutsu: Rank: D Level 8 28  
Ninjutsu: Rank: C Level 1 41  
Genjutsu: Rank: D Level 0 20  
Fuuinjutsu: Rank: E 0  
Alchemy: Rank: E 0  
Bloodline: Rank: C Level 5 25  
Intelligance: Rank: B Level 0 60  
Strength: Rank: C Level 1 41  
Speed: Rank: C Level 1 41  
Stamina: Rank: C Level 3 43  
Adaptability: Rank: C Level 8 48

Threat Rating: 430

----

Name: Sakura Haruno

Alliance: Konohagakure no Sato

Elemental Affinity:

Ninja Ranking: Genin

Stats-  
Chakra Capacity: Rank: D Level 2 22  
Chakra Control: Rank: B Level 1 61  
Taijutsu: Rank: D Level 0 20  
Ninjutsu: Rank: D Level 0 20  
Genjutsu: Rank: D Level 0 20  
Fuuinjutsu: Rank: E 0  
Alchemy: Rank: E 0  
Bloodline: Rank: E 0  
Intelligance: Rank: B Level 3 63  
Strength: Rank: D Level 4 24  
Speed: Rank: D Level 3 23  
Stamina: Rank: D Level 6 26  
Adaptability: Rank: C Level 8 48

Threat Rating: 327

----

Name: Naruto Uzumaki

Alliance: Konohagakure no Sato

Elemental Affinity: Wind

Ninja Ranking: Genin

Stats-  
Chakra Capacity: Rank: A Level 7 87  
Chakra Control: Rank: D Level 9 29  
Taijutsu: Rank: D Level 5 25  
Ninjutsu: Rank: B Level 0 60  
Genjutsu: Rank: D Level 0 20  
Fuuinjutsu: Rank: E 0  
Alchemy: Rank: E 0  
Bloodline: Rank: EX Level 9 129 (Kyuubi is considered a bloodline)  
Intelligance: Rank: D Level 7 27  
Strength: Rank: D Level 4 24  
Speed: Rank: C Level 3 43  
Stamina: Rank: B Level 0 60  
Adaptability: Rank: C Level 0 40

Threat Rating: 544 (Using Kyuubi(Not using more than 1 tail)) 415 (Without Kyuubi)

----

Name: Sarutobi (Hokage during his prime)

Alliance:Konohagakure no Sato

Elemental Affinity:

Ninja Ranking: Hokage

Stats-  
Chakra Capacity: Rank: S Level 7 107  
Chakra Control: Rank: S Level 7 107  
Taijutsu: Rank: S Level 9 109  
Ninjutsu: Rank: EX Level 9 129  
Genjutsu: Rank: A Level 7 87  
Fuuinjutsu: Rank: S Level 8 108  
Alchemy: Rank: E 0  
Bloodline: Rank: E 0  
Intelligance: Rank: S Level 9 109  
Strength: Rank: A Level 9 89  
Speed: Rank: A Level 8 88  
Stamina: Rank: A Level 5 85  
Adaptability: Rank: S Level 4 104

Threat Rating: 1122

----

Name: Shikamaru Nara

Alliance: Konohagakure no Sato

Elemntal Affinity:

Ninja Ranking: Genin

Stats-  
Chakra Capacity: Rank: D Level 5 25  
Chakra Control: Rank: B Level 7 67  
Taijutsu: Rank: D Level 0 20  
Ninjutsu: Rank: C Level 2 43  
Genjutsu: Rank: D Level 0 20  
Fuuinjutsu: Rank: E 0  
Alchemy: Rank: E 0  
Bloodline: Rank: E 0  
Intelligance: Rank: A Level 9 89  
Strength: Rank: D Level 2 22  
Speed: Rank: D Level 2 22  
Stamina: Rank: D Level 2 22  
Adaptability: Rank: A Level 4 84

Threat Rating: 414

----

Name: Kiba Inuzuka

Alliance: Konohagakure no Sato

Elemental Affinity:

Ninja Ranking: Genin

Stats-  
Chakra Capacity: Rank: C Level 7 47  
Chakra Control: Rank: D Level 5 25  
Taijutsu: Rank: B Level 2 62  
Ninjutsu: Rank: C Level 6 46  
Genjutsu: Rank: D Level 0 20  
Fuuinjutsu: Rank: E 0  
Alchemy: Rank: E 0  
Bloodline: Rank: E 0  
Intelligance: Rank: D Level 5 25  
Strength: Rank: C Level 7 47  
Speed: Rank: C Level 8 48  
Stamina: Rank: C Level 4 44  
Adaptability: Rank: D Level 6 26

Threat Rating: 390

Name: Ino Yamanaka

Alliance: Konohagakure no Sato

Elemental Affinity:

Stats-  
Chakra Capacity: Rank: D Level 6 26  
Chakra Control: Rank: C Level 9 49  
Taijutsu: Rank: D Level 0 20  
Ninjutsu: Rank: C Level 5 45  
Genjutsu: Rank: D Level 8 23  
Fuuinjutsu: Rank: E 0  
Alchemy: Rank: E 0  
Bloodline: Rank: E 0  
Intelligance: Rank: B Level 0 60  
Strength: Rank: D Level 3 23  
Speed: Rank: D Level 1 21  
Stamina: Rank: D Level 0 20  
Adaptability: Rank: C Level 4 44

* * *


End file.
